Gabriel Barredo

Gabriel Barredo, a graduate of University of Santo Tomas, is well known for his sculptures and mixed media installations, in which he employs a plethora of found objects. Rods of electric fan covers, broken particles of car windshields, wood, paper, wrought-iron, antique radios, coconut husks, bottle caps, bed springs, fire-hose coils, conveyor belts, wooden beads, computer and refrigerator parts, and cement grinder serve as elements of the sculptural form of his works. Barredo is also recognized for his furniture art pieces, rich baroque-looking assemblages made of everyday objects.

For the first premiering edition of Philippine Art Fair in 2013 Barredo has created a 30-feet long complex installation, consisting of smaller installation pieces, sculpture elements and kinetic objects. His work ‘Asphalt’ is a rich mix of different formal languages and various cultural contexts: biological components, the wind, lights, toys and pop culture objects, sharp metal components, elements from English and Catholic culture. Combined in one, they are a juxtaposition of intriguing, grotesque, breathtaking and beautiful at one time. ‘Asphalt’ was acquired to the collection of luxury goods group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy and the LVMH museum in Berlin, Germany.

Manila is a city of extremes, and at a time that only the extreme makes an impression, it still manages to shock. To wander into its streets, to be among the crowds, to be caught in the din of history that barrages you at every corner is to participate in a drama that began centuries ago, but whose cries and whispers echo resound well into the present. The sacred and the profane, the amatory smiles and the feral gaze are all on display here, as the unforgiving sun of its days give way to the artificial neon of night.
This exhibition is a guided tour of Manila, by asking its best contemporary artists to act as Virgils ushering us into its depths as well as pointing out the stars of the darkened heavens above this infernal city.
Erwin Romulo, 2014

Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful, 2014

The catalogue was published on the occasion of the curated exhibition of Norman Crisologo at ARNDT Singapore in 2014.

This publicationis a guided tour of Manila, by asking its best contemporary artists to act as Virgils ushering us into its depths as well as pointing out the stars of the darkened heavens above this infernal city and features works by Mike Adrao, Gabriel Barredo, Santiago Bose, Zean Cabangis, Jigger Cruz, Alfredo Esquillo, Dex Fernandez, Kawayan de Guia, José Legaspi, Pow Martinez, Alwin Reamillo, Kaloy Sanchez, Norberto Roldan, Jose Tence Ruiz and Tatong Torres.

The publication "Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful" features the essays of Erwin Romulo, Oliver X.A. Rexles